Visual Communication IAR 212

Nectar fabric for Maharam
Tord Boontje
computer generated pattern
image from www.dutchdesignevents.com

As I read "Computing in Architectural Design", I was struck by the rapid change that has taken place in computer software that aids architecture and the change that has taken place in the actual role of the computer. Clearly computers have made the drafting process much faster, more efficient, and more precise. In regards to rendering, computers have enabled drawings to be more precise and to contain more information than drawings done by hand. Computer generated renderings can also be very beautiful, although I think that drawings that are a mixture of hand and computer based drawing techniques can be the most successful at offering beauty and precision. For me, the most fascinating point is the discussion of how the role of the computer is changing in architecture and design. Where the computer was once a tool used to express an architects vision it is now beginning to be used to actually shape and create that vision. It is exciting to think about new ways to create shapes, forms, and patterns that exist only through/because of computers.